Being a Civil Engineer in Nepal: Is it worth?

Civil engineering is a well-known profession in the world. We can find civil engineers at every corner of the world. There are 24,030 registered civil engineers only in Nepal, according to the database of the Nepal Engineering Council (NEC). These are the absolute numbers registered by NEC, but the count is increasing rapidly because of the yearly output of the engineering universities. There are four major universities in Nepal that offer civil engineering courses: Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu University, Pokhara University, and Purwanchal University. These universities have affiliated colleges that offer civil engineering courses.

To start a civil engineering journey, there are two distinctive ways.

1) After completion of +2 with a Science stream with Mathematics.

2) After completing the 3-year diploma program.

If you have completed any of the above, you will be eligible for joining the Bachelor in Civil Engineering. It is only the beginning of the iceberg. To enroll in the civil engineering program, one should have to give a computer-based or manual entrance exam too. If you get good marks in these, only then you will be selected for the good and prestigious colleges that offer the civil engineering course. There are almost 10,000 applicants competing for the scholarship in the well-reputed colleges for all engineering courses, and only a few will get the chance to study their selected subjects.

Phew! I am assuming you are lucky enough to complete all these hassles and get admitted to your selected college. What will happen after that? Is it worth the competition to be a civil engineer in this way and be successful in the future? Well, these are my perspectives on this course.

1. Course Completion Cost:-

These are the approximate costs of completing a bachelor's degree at different universities:

Tribhuwan University Constituent Colleges: 2.5 to 4 lakhs for 4 years.

Tribhuwan University Affiliated Colleges: 8 to 16 lakhs for 4 years.

Kathmandu University: 8 lakhs for 4 years.

Pokhara University: 7 lakhs for 4 years.

If you manage to be listed in the merit list of Tribhuwan University, it will cost you less than 4 lakhs to complete the bachelor's degree. In other universities and private colleges, the average bachelor's completion cost is around 10 lakhs. Adding the monthly expenses for the study period, there will be 5 lakhs more cost. So, it will be around 15 lakhs to complete the course.

2. Scope of the Civil Engineering Course in Nepal

Nepal is a developing country. There are many civil engineering projects under construction phase, so there is so much chance to get a job as a civil engineer. These are some of the jobs you can do after completing the bachelor in civil engineering.

a) Hydropower Sites: There are so many hydropower projects. You can apply for the civil engineer post at hydropower sites and gain real field knowledge here. Work includes Site supervision, Construction billing, Manpower management, equipment management, headworks supervision, tunnel supervision, and so on.

b) Road Sites: Due to the increasing traffic and urbanization, many road projects are also under construction in Nepal. You can work in the road site construction to gain knowledge of alignment of roads, road design, road profile and cross-sectioning, cutting, filling, etc.

c) Working in Consultancies: If you do not want to get dirty and work in an office environment, you can join engineering consultancies. There are many types of consultancy you can join after completion of bachelor like Hydropower consultancy, Drawing and Designing consultancy, valuation consultancy.

d) Working as a research assistant/Teaching assistant: If you want to involve in higher study or research projects, you can work as an RA/TA in engineering college or universities. It will be good for students who are going for doing Masters, PhD level study. It will improve your experience as well as your knowledge remains fresh.

e) Being Entrepreneur or Opening company/Firm: If you are extra enthusiastic and want to grow your business rather than working 9-5 jobs, you can register your own company and start working on your own. You can do Design, Construction and Valuation works after completing this course. It will grow your connection and have a greater scope. You can gain experience as a construction manager as well as directly involve in Design and Construction too.

f) Government Jobs: You can participate in government jobs as a temporary civil engineer or as permanent too. But being a permanent government job holder is a great task, only a few will get to be selected on this. There are different levels you can compete in these exams. you can compete up to 7th level of engineer after completing BE.

g) NGO's and INGO's projects: You can also participate in NGO's and INGO's projects after completing BE. The projects are varied from time to time. These projects are generally short period of time and you can collect great experience from these projects. These projects generally are site-based projects and you will gain more confidence and communication skills from these projects.

3. Salaries and Rate of Return

Completing a civil engineering is a complex task, you have to complete more than 130 credit hours. And after that what do you expect your salaries to be? Well, it will not be very good in the first 6 months. It will be ranged from 20,000 to 30,000 for most of the time. If you want to work in an office-based then you will get minimum and if you are willing to go for site it will be more than 30,000. It is a very unsatisfactory feeling but you have to accept that you are in your learning phase in these situations. Your salaries will increase eventually but you have to put efforts into your works. In your first six months, you should learn software like AutoCAD, ETABS, Excel and you should be able to read and interpret the construction drawing fluently. After that, your salaries can be increased up to 1 lakh in about 2 years if you are consistent and improve yourself. It's not that bad, right?

Civil Engineering is a great course on its own. It has a very large scope in developing countries like Nepal. There are many ongoing projects in this field, you can work as an entrepreneur, work in consultancies or join the government jobs if you want. However, it will take so much time and effort too. It takes 4 years to complete and has a frustrating salary when you start the job. But if you love to work and grow your career, want to grow your leadership skill, your communication skills, want to put your efforts to develop your nation, it is the right choice.